The Seahorse Pillow I Made Just for G

One of my favorite things about being able to make things myself is that when one of my kids loves something, I do not have to wait around hoping somebody somewhere makes exactly what I have in my head.

G loves seahorses.

So naturally, instead of buying her a pillow with a seahorse on it like a normal person, I decided I needed to digitize an embroidery design specifically for her, stitch it out myself, make the pillow, add ruffles, and monogram it.

Because apparently I do not understand the concept of simply ordering things.

The embroidery was really the project within the project. I wanted the seahorse to feel sweet and whimsical without looking overly babyish, and I wanted the monogram to feel like it belonged in the design rather than being something I added as an afterthought.

Digitizing embroidery is one of those things that looks deceptively simple from the finished product. You draw something on a computer, send it to the machine, and the machine stitches it.

Except not exactly.

There is stitch direction, density, layering, underlay, pull compensation, thread changes, and the very annoying reality that something that looks perfect on a computer screen can stitch out and immediately reveal every decision you made incorrectly.

So there was a lot of stitching, looking at it, going back to the computer, fixing things, and trying again.

Eventually I got the seahorse where I wanted it.

Then came the part I actually find relaxing.

I picked the fabric, made the ruffle, put the pillow together, and watched all of these separate little pieces turn into something that looked like it had always been meant to exist that way.

And, more importantly, it looked like G.

That is probably my favorite kind of project.

I make plenty of things simply because I want to see if I can make them. I make things for parties, things for the house, completely unnecessary Halloween structures, and things that begin with me buying a new machine and needing to justify its existence.

But making something specifically for one person is different.

There will never be another pillow that means exactly what this one means because I designed this one for my little girl, around something she loves, at this exact point in her childhood.

And yes, she will probably eventually outgrow seahorses.

That is okay.

I will still have the pillow.